Posted on 02/27/2002 12:58:33 PM PST by JediGirl
When reading a novel, you already know that it is fiction. Even if it is inspired by actual events, a novel is fiction. This means that the text is classified as being in the fiction narrative genre. When reading a children's fiction book to a child, it generally carries more than just an entertainment value; there is usually an accompanying educational element within the story. Such books can sometimes be ended with the popular phrase "The moral of the story is..." as a way of emphasizing an underlying principle that was intended to be communicated in the book.
The ever popular story The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a classic case of a story that was designed with the intention of supplying an underlying principle: avoid setting off false alarms because if you do, you risk encountering a lack of response from others when it is time to set off the real alarm. While the story is disturbingly entertaining, there is no claim of the story being a factual account of an actual incident. If it was related to an actual event, then the genre classification of the story would be a historical narrative.
Role of Allegory
Ancient Hebrew education system was non-existent, as was the case with most ancient ethnic groups and civilizations. The method of education most predominate was through the use of allegory. The advantages of allegory included:
In our current literalistic culture grounded in an era of instant information, the role of allegory has been reduced to cliches. Interest in the arts and theatre is not as prevalent as it was in the past due to the interpretive skills required of the audience. We don't want to have to figure out the message...we want it delivered up front and with utmost clarity. This affects how we interpret ancient literature and artwork.........
Thus, it is believed that the first Genesis account was written during the second exilic era (when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem).
This idea is further bolstered by the inclusion in the first Genesis account of the story of the 'Nephilim'--the offspring of fallen angels and human women. The account of the Nephilim is very, very similar to Persian, Zoroastrian, Babylonian, Kurdish and Sumerian legends, not Egyptian.
In the Persian myths, they are the Djinn or Ifrit that was incorporated in the Koran.
These similarities have caused me to believe that the story of the 'Djinn' and Genesis I came from the same place: Somewhere in the north of what is now Iraq.
Don't forget to visit the Crevo List for all the latest!
01: Site that debunks virtually all of creationism's fallacies. Excellent resource.
02: Creation "Science" Debunked.
03: Creationi sm and Pseudo Science. Familiar cartoon then lots of links.
04: The SKEPTIC annotated bibliography. Amazingly great meta-site!
05: The Evidence for Human Evolution. For the "no evidence" crowd.
06: Massi ve mega-site with thousands of links on evolution, creationism, young earth, etc..
07: Another amazing site full of links debunking creationism.
08: Creationism and Pseudo Science. Great cartoon!
09: Glenn R. Morton's site about creationism's fallacies. Another jennyp contribution.
11: Is Evolution Science?. Successful PREDICTIONS of evolution (Moonman62).
12: Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution. On point and well-written.
13: Frequently Asked But Never Answered Questions. A creationist nightmare!
14: DARWIN, FULL TEXT OF HIS WRITINGS. The original ee-voe-lou-shunist.
The foregoing was just a tiny sample. So that everyone will have access to the accumulated "Creationism vs. Evolution" threads which have previously appeared on FreeRepublic, plus links to hundreds of sites with a vast amount of information on this topic, here's Junior's massive work, available for all to review: The Ultimate Creation vs. Evolution Resource [ver 15].
You would have to consider when the Hebrews, or Isrealites, actually came into being, which would have been after these "pagan" cultures were already established in Egypt, the Chaldees, Greece, etc. and had developed many of their myths. Consider that Abraham came from the Ur of the Chaldees, which was a thriving culture long before the Isrealites became as numberless as the stars.
One thing about that, though, is that he left Ur and went to Haran, where he stayed some years with his mothers relatives. Remember that the Hebrews have always (as far as we know) figured descent as from the mother.
Now what is myth? The dictionary definition of a myth would be stories about gods. So then you have to ask the next question. What is a god?
--Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
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